Hi all; Looking for tires on ebay and came across a good deal on 12x22.5 tires. They are firestone with a few miles on them. They are local pick up only and does me no good as they are in Indiana. Good luck, Merle.

How old can I go and still feel relatively safe? Is ten years too old for example? I passed on a beautiful set of 8 good brand name tires just retired in favor of 8 new ones because I was told that ten years is just wayyyy too old. I thought that was odd because they were only available for a few days and then gone so someone didn't think so.

***let's omit the self superior "if you can't afford to buy them new then you have no business living and should be ashamed of yourself crowd please.)

Just this fall, I was pulling an equipment trailer with 10 year old tires that looked good: no cracks or blemishes. I was at the load limit of 14000 lbs GVW, on a hot day. Blew one, then another half an hour later. Good thing the trailer is hard to damage. Not like a bus. Anyway, I would not run 10 year old tires on my bus if they were free. The collateral damage to the wheel well and surrounding body, wiring, air lines and suspension bags would be bad. Not to mention the safety factor with blowing a tire at highway speed. 7 years is max for my comfort.

I get take-offs from a trucker friend with 50% tread that are 2 or 3 years old for the price of the casings. (What he would get if he sent them for retreading). $100 each the last time a couple years ago, probably more now.

Truck/bus tires have a longer time life span than car tires because they are re-grooved and re-capped and just simply built better. I heard that Michelin says their big truck tires are good for 10 years. I have a barely worn set of Firestone 315-80R 22.5's that are 12 years old and there is no sidewall cracking whatsoever, however there are signs of cracking between the threads. I measured the thread depth and got 13/32's".

Anyway, my wife refused to make anymore trips in our bus until I got new tires so I bought new Michelins through the FMCA Tire Advantage program and was able to get their XZA2 Energy tires for $55 more than than the local dealer was selling Chinese Double Coin tires for.

The life of tires depend on the compound a natural rubber compound tire is good for many years past 10 years old it's nothing to see 25 year tires on trucks around mines carrying 100,000 tons, synthetic rubber compound tires like most manufactures use today have a short life span

I was told tires could be sold as new up to 6 years in age if never mounted and kept in storage after 6 years old they can still be sold as blemished or 2nds

Hey Clifford, the tire shop where I bought mine, would not take my old Mich. as they were over "4" years old, told me that they do not do allow that in Oklahoma. Mine were pushing the limits on age, "7" years old, so I bought new. Each state has its own regulations I guess.

Rules of thumb are usually developed based on good engineering decisions and experience. Somebody did not just pull the tire recommendations out of their @$#.

Michelin probably has the best information available to those who take the time to research the topic regarding when tires need to be changed. They even distribute a brochure that has full size photos of sidewall cracks that show what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. But they also address how tires need exercise to release and distribute the compounds within the rubber to keep it pliable. Don't drive and your tires are no longer as pliable or flexible as they should be. If a casing is 10 years old whether new or a recap it is toast.

But you and I and the engineers from every tire company can explain all this to the idiots and somehow they will continue to believe they know better. In the animal kingdom the rule is survival of the fittest.

We need to let these fools put 10 year old tires on their buses and deal with the consequences. The only reservation I have is because he will share my road and I don't want to be anywhere near him when a tire blows and he ends up out of control and headed for the median or the ditch. Not long ago I could not believe my eyes, it said: "Just run 'em after dark, it is cooler then, keep it around 55 MPH and they should be okay."

Now that one was a hoot ... The blind leading the blind.

Used or new, it is up to you. I do know this: It really hurts, when you look down there and see all that good looking deep tread, but you have to trash them because of age (for safety' sake). My last set was exactly like that. Sold the old tires to a dump truck guy, for a 1/3 of what they cost, he blew all six within 8 weeks.

Call around your locale truck tire shops, most will have used tires. Bill

I did that about 1 1/2 years ago in the Charlotte NC area, looking for 22.5" tires. *Nobody* had anything for a couple of weeks -- since new tires became so expensive, any tire that you can't see through gets snapped up. After digging for weeks and some deliberation, I bought a new pair so steers (Toyo's) and found four mixed tires ~3 years old.

Another note, sunlight is hard on tires, especially those that aren't run often. Keeping them covered is often an advantage.